How the Swedes Came to Paxton

HOW THE SWEDES CAME TO PAXTON
HUGH E. MCINTOSH
The removal of Augustana College and Theological Seminary
from Chicago to Paxton, Illinois, in 1863 brought about the
formation of a Swedish community in that little prairie town.
In the words of Dr. M . J . Englund, "what Mecca is for the Mo­hammedan
. . . Jerusalem for the Israelite, Paxton was at one
time for the [Swedish] Lutheran immigrant."1 To understand
how Paxton, not even a decade old, attained such a significance,
one must follow the course of events which drew so many Swedes
to the bustling young town on the Illinois prairie.
Swedes settled in many parts of the United States, but the
mainstream of nineteenth-century Swedish immigration flowed
to the Midwest. The land there was inexpensive and fertile,
while the climate and social system were most suitable to the
Swedes.2 Swedish settlements grew up in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, and Kansas.3 In 1850, of
the more than 3,500 Swedes i n the United States, 1,123 were in
Illinois and 753 in New York. Other states had significantly less.
By 1860, the census figures show the swelling Swedish popula­tion
of the Midwest. More than half of the 18,625 Swedes in
the U . S. were then living in Illinois and Minnesota.4
The first Swedish Lutheran minister to immigrate to Illinois
was Lars Paul Esbjörn, who established a congregation at An¬
dover in 1849.5 Esbjörn knew that some Swedes had been lured
away from their Lutheran faith by the Eric-Janssonists at Bishop
H i l l and by Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian missionaries.6
In others, the liberal spirit which had persuaded them to emigrate
from Sweden also wrought a change in their religious attitudes.7
Esbjörn and other Swedish Lutherans became convinced that
they had to unite with local Lutherans to insure the survival of
their religion.8 Therefore, in 1851 the Swedish Lutheran con­gregations
in northern Illinois joined with the American, German,
and Norwegian Lutheran congregations to form the Northern
Illinois Synod.9 Two years before, the older Illinois Synod had
founded Hillsboro College at Hillsboro in Montgomery County.
The new synod now voted to help support this college as the insti-
35
tution where its ministers would be trained. In 1852 the trustees
of the college decided that Springfield offered a more advan­tageous
location, and the college was moved to that city and re­named
Illinois State University.1 0
In order to better train their ministers, the Scandinavian mem­bers
of the Northern Illinois Synod raised money and estab­lished
a Scandinavian professorship at the university in 1858.
They chose Pastor Esbjörn to be the professor. Esbjörn plunged
into his new duties and was immediately confronted by a large
number of seemingly insuperable obstacles, not the least of
which was the absence of any real Scandinavian community.11
I can do no otherwise [he wrote] than deplore the fact
that no Scandinavian Lutheran congregation is found in
Springfield, which could give the necessary festive and im­pressive
tone to these practical efforts and through mutual
contact between congregation and students support and
develop the true, Christian and Lutheran spirit.12
The obstacles, instead of disappearing, became larger and more
numerous. By 1860 Esbjörn had had enough and resigned his
professorship." In April the Scandinavian members of the
Northern Illinois Synod decided that Esbjörn's resignation was
a symptom of a growing alienation between them and the other
The first Swedish church in Paxton
members of the synod. Therefore, the Scandinavians withdrew
from the synod and, at an organizational meeting later in the
year, established both the Augustana Synod and the Augustana
Seminary.1 4
Pastor Esbjörn, who was appointed professor of theology at
the seminary, began teaching in the fall of 1860. Classes were
held at first in the basement of the Norwegian Lutheran Church
i n Chicago. However, this was only to be a temporary arrange­ment.
The Augustana Synod was interested i n the possibility of
founding a colony in which the seminary could be located, and
agents were sent to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa to find a
suitable site.1 5 T. N. Hasselquist, pastor of the Swedish L u ­theran
church in Galesburg, was the prime mover behind this
project. When preaching in Galesburg, he had become convinced
of the necessity and practicability of founding a Swedish colony
around a Swedish Lutheran seminary.1 6 While Esbjörn directed
the seminary in Chicago, Hasselquist took over the search for
a colony site.
In 1862 William H. Osborn of the Illinois Central Railroad
Company, having heard that the Scandinavians were searching
for land on which to start a colony, approached Hasselquist and
Pastor Erland Carlsson of Chicago. Osborn suggested that the
synod found its colony and seminary along the route of the r a i l ­road
on land purchased from the company. He proposed that
the synod send a committee to inspect the land at the railroad's
expense. This the synod agreed to, and in May 1862 Hasselquist,
Carlsson and three other committee members toured the I. C.
lands as far south as Jonesboro.17
After its inspection trip, the committee chose three possible
sits: Neoga, Pera and Paxton. Neoga already had a small Swed­ish
colony, but the town was ruled out because it was too far
south of Chicago. Approaches were made to Pera and Paxton,
and the latter was chosen as the site for the colony and seminary
on the basis of a more attractive offer by the townspeople. Wil­liam
H . Pells agreed to donate twenty acres of land for the loca­tion
of the seminary and the Illinois Central gave the following
terms for its land: the seminary would sell 60,000 acres of the
railroad's land for a commission of one dollar per acre on the
first 30,000 acres and fifty cents per acre on the next 30,000
acres; the seminary would buy 1,000 acres of land for six dollars
37
per acre.1 8 This agreement with the I. C. was signed on Febru­ary
12, 1863.19
When the synod met in June, Hasselquist and Carlsson per­suaded
all the leaders except Esbjörn to accept the railroad's
offer.2 0 Opposed to land speculation, feeling his leadership in
the synod slipping, tired and homesick, Esbjörn returned to
Sweden.2 1 Hasselquist immediately moved to Paxton to organize
a congregation and to prepare for the arrival of the seminary
in the fall.22
Just nine years before Augustana Seminary arrived i n Paxton,
the only sign of white men there was a muddy wagon road con­necting
Ottawa and Danville. Several miles west of this place,
where the trail passed through a stand of trees known as Ten
Mile Grove, was a small post office. There were a few farmers in
the outlying area and some settlers lived along the road. During
the summer of 1854 the railroad—courier of American civiliza­tion—
snaked its way south from Chicago, crossed the Ottawa
Trail, and continued on to Urbana. Not long after, William Good­rich,
his wife and three sons built a home where the railroad
crossed the wagon road, and the seed of a new town was
planted.2 3
In 1855 two land speculators, Leander Britt and Ransom K.
Murdock, set out to build a city at the junction in the hope
that it would become the seat of a new county. They bought
240 acres, laid out a town, and christened it Prairie City. In
1857 the railroad office opened and Prairie City became a boom
town.2 4 To show in name, as well as i n fact, that the country
junction was fast becoming a metropolis, the town fathers re­named
it Prospect City.25
Two years later, in 1859, Prospect City became the seat of
newly organized Ford County, and again it was deemed neces­sary
to change the name of the town.2 0 Sir Richard Paxton, a
wealthy Englishman, was planning at this time to establish a
colony in Illinois, and i n a vain attempt to attract S i r Richard to
Prospect City, the town was renamed Paxton.27
By 1863, Paxton was undergoing rapid expansion, and was
attempting to develop a civilization commensurate with that of
the older settlements and towns of the East. The P a x t o n R e c o r d ,
which began publishing in 1865, tells of Paxton's preoccupation
with business, building, and becoming a city. Each week's paper
38
carried accounts of new buildings being put up, additions being
made to older ones, the volume of trade shipped by rail, new
businesses openings, agricultural forecasts, and suggestions for
further improvements. Frequently the paper would print an up­date
of the town's growth:
PROGRESS OF PAXTON—Since the commencement of
the publication of the R e c o r d we have endeavored to keep
our readers posted from week to week as to the material
growth and prosperity of Paxton, yet, when we review it,
we can scarcely realize the extent of the improvement nor
the real progress we have made. . . . Nor has the growth
of the village been alone remarkable. The country has been
filling up with industrious and wealthy farmers who are
busy improving the lands. . . .2S
Disease occasionally rampaged through the town, and there
were accidental shootings and freak accidents. Tramps were a
nuisance and numerous reports of burglars, horse thieves, and
other criminals appeared in the papers; the P a x t o n R e c o r d ad­vised
citizens to "watch for the rascals and shoot them on sight."29
Cultural activities and entertainments were fostered as i n ­tegral
parts of city life. There were singing, dancing, and literary
clubs, as well as a band. Out-of-town lecturers were often i n ­vited
to speak and on one occasion a debate on the Scriptures
and reason was held.3 0 Other amusements were picnics i n the
summer, hunting in the fall, sleigh-riding i n the winter, and
dances and parties all through the year. Occasionally a troupe
of entertainers or a circus would come to town and once a couple
of "Italian Lazaroni" with two performing bears visited Paxton.3 1
In addition to the Swedish Lutheran Church, there were Metho­dist
and Congregational churches; revivals, camp meetings and
prayer meetings were a recurring part of religious life.
Nearly as regular as church services were temperance activi­ties:
lectures, conventions, and a military organization known as
the Hosts of Temperance. It was noted in one paper that i n only
eight months out of the previous five years had there been any
liquor licenses issued, and in another issue the editor reported
that the Riley Saloon had burned to the ground while smiling
onlookers made no attempt to save it.32
The years 1863 and 1864 saw the arrival in Paxton of many
Swedes from other settlements in America. Perhaps two hun-
39
dred immigrants came the first year. During the next two years,
despite the close of the Civil War, immigration to Paxton fell
off. The years 1867 and 1868 were the best for immigration to
Paxton; it is estimated that 500 Swedish families then settled in
the area. After 1866 most of the Swedes arriving in Paxton came
directly from Sweden.3 3 The census of 1870 indicates that the
flow of Swedish immigration was moving north and west from
Chicago, away from Paxton.3 4 Significant numbers of Swedes
continued to flow into Paxton until 1870. Thereafter, as many
moved away from Paxton as arrived there from Sweden.35
Swedes who had settled in Paxton before 1863 had been so few
in number that they had apparently blended into the community
without much notice. The first reference to a colony of Swedes
appears in the March 23, 1865, number of the P a x t o n R e c o r d:
A colony of Swedes now comprises a large and prosperous
portion of our population, and we learn that many more
are coming. . . . Our citizens have learned to extend the
most cordial welcome to this class of immigrants as they
are almost without exception, intelligent, honest and i n ­dustrious.
3 6
The phrase, "Our citizens have learned to extend the most
cordial welcome . . .," implies that when the Swedes first came
to Paxton, they underwent a probationary period. A reading of
contemporary Paxton newspapers reveals the criteria by which
the Swedes were judged: the ability to prosper, high character,
usefulness to Paxton, ability to speak English, willingness to
adopt the "American" way of life. In a community where strong
emphasis was placed on material growth, the prosperity of the
Swedish element was certainly welcomed. The R e c o r d continues:
They are employed i n every department of industry and
science; among them are found some of the best mechanics
in the country. Many of them have lived in the United
' States for years, and possess good English educations. . . .
They are not clannish as some colonies are held to be; but
act independently, each man solely for himself.
The Swedish mechanics undoubtedly helped fill a crying need
in the growing community, and the willingness of the Swedes
to speak English and to blend into the Paxton community helped
earn them a lasting place in the town.
40
The Swedes participated in nearly all aspects of Paxton life.
They owned or were involved in a variety of businesses: a lum­ber
yard, a dry goods store, a plow manufactory, a meat market,
a grocery store, a boot and shoe store, and a furniture store.37
One was an artist and the Swedes had their own band.3 8 The
Swedish Lutheran minister preached on occasion to the Con¬
gregationalists, and he was involved with the Soldiers' A i d So­ciety.
3 9 There were Swedes i n court cases, on the relief roles,
and in shooting accidents.4 0 They were also involved in politics:
Swedes ran for, and occasionally won, the offices of town trustee,
constable, alderman, township supervisor, and county judge.41
They served as grand jurors, petit jurors, and delegates to po­litical
conventions, and they participated in both the Republican
and Democratic Parties.42
The transition from Swedish immigrant to American citizen
was not an immediate nor necessarily an easy process. Although
some Swedes knew or learned English, the language barrier
presented problems for both Swede and American:
Last week a bad case came up for hearing. . . . The fel­low
could neither speak nor understand a word of English
and the court was equally unlettered i n Swede. . . . There
sat the court with two hundred and twenty-five pounds of
steam, as indicated by the gauge, and no opportunity to let
it off. . . . After a futile-attempt at relief, the court swooned
and was on the retired list the balance of the week.48
In another article, the story is recounted in which a Swede,
subpoenaed only as a witness and thinking he was to be ar­rested,
led the authorities on a wild goose chase for some time
before he was hauled into court where he gave his testimony
and was fined for "resisting arrest."4 4 To overcome the language
barrier, one enterprising merchant hired a Swedish clerk and
advertised the fact i n Swedish.45
Other sources add more light to our knowledge of life as it
was for the Swedes in Paxton. In recalling this period, the an­niversary
album of the Lutheran church has this to say: "The
congregation was at that time in poor financial straits. Their
expenses according to the size of the congregation were small,
and yet, the income was not enough. Much must be written
about poverty and money shortage during the time of new build­ing.
. . ."46
41
A critical view of Paxton is given by S. M . H i l l , who, like
hundreds of other Swedes, first lived with a relative who had
preceded him and become established in America. Hill came
to Paxton in 1868 and eventually got a job in a harness shop
that paid $28 per month and board.4 7 There were large numbers
of Swedish laborers and domestics in Paxton then,4 8 and i n his
later years H i l l warned his countrymen against becoming slaves
in their new homeland. Hill felt that education was the only
way for the Swedish immigrant to become something more
than a low-class laborer for the American elite, and he believed
that a working knowledge of English was the first step.49
Coming directly from Sweden, H i l l may have been overly sen­sitive
and too quick to draw class lines. But there were surely
reasons for his observations. Newspapers already mentioned i n ­dicate
that the Americans found the Swedes who were not fluent
in English to be amusing and something less than social equals.
Yet, it is undeniable that in time the Swedish community pros­pered.
In 1908, historian E. A . Gardner observed of Paxton that
" i n no place, with the exception of New Boston, can be found
as many business men in proportion to the population, and no­where
do Swedes do a better business than here. It is natural
that they would not succeed as well, did not the Americans sup­port
them as well as their Swedish patrons."50
Pastor Hasselquist hoped the sale of the synod's land and the
commissions from the I. C. land would provide adequate financial
support for the college. (The seminary had been renamed Au¬
gustana College and Theological Seminary in 1862) .5 1 To that
end the college secured a land agent, P. L . Hawkinsson, who
began to solicit Swedish immigrants to buy land and settle around
Paxton. Pamphlets sent to Sweden depicted all the advantages
a Swedish settler would have in Paxton: instruction by L u ­theran
pastors in Swedish and in English, rich farm lands which
produced high yields of wheat and corn, cheap lumber, a healthy
climate, and the benefits of buying land from and shipping pro­duce
with the I. C.5 2 As a result of the efforts by Hasselquist
through H e m l a n d e t (the Swedish-American newspaper of which
he was editor), Erland Carlsson in Chicago, and Hawkinsson as
land agent, Swedish settlers began to appear, including 83 mem­bers
of Hasselquist's former congregation in Galesburg.63
However, land agents employed directly by the railroad and
42
local speculators sold their own land to many of the Swedish
immigrants. Also, in 1866 the I. C. lowered the price of its land
to $2 an acre, thereby undercutting land sales efforts made by
Augustana. From 1863 to 1868 the school earned only $14,000
selling land for the railroad, and stopped the practice after that
year. But it did continue to make some money from the sale
of its own land until 1875.55
Another major source of support for the college was a gift
of over $10,000 from Sweden. Rev. O. C. T. Andrén collected
the money for the college on a trip there i n 1862.56 The school
also eventually received $750 that had been collected for the
Scandinavian professorship at Illinois State University before
the Scandinavians split from the Northern Illinois Synod.67
Most of the students at Augustana were poor. The Swedes
i n the Paxton congregation as well as those i n other congrega­tions
of the synod occasionally helped the students with gifts
of money and produce.5 8 By 1867 over half the students re­ceived
free room and board while only six paid $2.50 a week.
In 1865 a tuition fee of $10 was charged, but only to those stu­dents
who could pay it. Students who were members of a con­gregation
in the synod were only charged half price and those
who were studying for the ministry were charged nothing.59
The non-Swedish citizens of Paxton and the students of Au¬
gustana College were effectively separated by geography, goals,
and the Swedish community, which acted as a buffer between
them. The college was located on the northwestern edge of the
city, and scholastic demands left little time for idling about the
town. Most of the townspeople knew little about life at the col­lege,
and what they did know they learned from newspaper ar­ticles
such as these:
. . . the citizens of Paxton donated liberally to this i n ­stitution
. . . [it] will not be exclusively Swedish, on the
contrary we learn that it w i l l be conducted according to the
system which has obtained in all our first class American
Colleges. It w i l l undoubtedly rank with the best institutions
i n the country.60
In years to come it will prove one of the greatest attrac­tions
to the most desirable class of people seeking new homes,
and a powerful agent in Americanizing the foreign element
of our population."6 1
That "the citizens of Paxton donated liberally" to the college
43
is doubtful. Hasselquist reported that the Paxtonites failed to
give the support they had promised.6 2 The college was judged
by essentially the same criteria as the Swedish community: the
ability to prosper, high character, usefulness to Paxton, ability
to speak English, willingness to adopt American ways. Augustana
failed on three of these counts. The failure to prosper material­ly
is evidenced by frequent calls for patronage and support in
the Record, as well as by the financial problems reported by Has­selquist.
6 3 That the college did not greatly benefit Paxton is wit­nessed
in the R e c o r d by the constant use of the future tense in
reference to the school's success. The simple fact that Augus­tana
remained physically and spiritually on the edge of the com­munity,
training its students for service outside Paxton, while
its citizens (including those of Swedish origin) pursued material
progress, shows the college's failure to become an integral part
of Paxton.
Although they failed to become a part of the larger local com­munity,
the students at Augustana were very much at home
within the smaller environment of the college. A study of life
at Augustana during the Paxton period must begin with T. N.
Hasselquist, president of the college and pastor of the Swedish
Lutheran congregation. At Paxton, Hasselquist hoped to found
a Swedish colony that would support an American-type college
and a Lutheran seminary, and would attract Swedes away from
the cities, which he considered evil. From the beginning, he
was plagued with numerous problems: the C i v i l War threatened
to ruin plans for the colony; a rumor was spread that the
land around Paxton was not fertile; the college was ignored by
the non-Swedish population in Paxton and by the pastors of the
Augustana Synod; people suspected that Hasselquist's only con­cern
was making money; and he was ridiculed for "trying to
make hired men into ministers."6 4 Despite these hardships and
handicaps, Hasselquist succeeded i n creating a college environ­ment
in which young men could be trained for the Luther­an
ministry.6 5 He was loved and honored by his congrega­tion,
6 6 and among the students he inspired both respect and
awe:
Hasselquist was president in name as well as in deed. We
all looked up to him, and his ability to win both the love
and respect of the students was based on eminent talents.67
44
O, what a conception I had of "the Doctor!" I approached
his house the first time with emotions akin to a man con­demned
to the whipping post."68
The school complex consisted of a small cluster of frame
houses. The students gave names to several of them: Hassel¬
quist's house was called "Asagård," the residence of Odin, the
chief god of Norse mythology; "Valhalla," Odin's banquet hall,
was the building where the students ate; another was called
"Ragnarök," the smoke house—whether because of the smoking
chimney or because some students smoked there on the sly is
not known; and the building where the ministerial candidates
were given their final exams was known as "Purgatory."6 " In­side
the buildings conditions were Spartan: "class rooms were
small and cramped; there was no teacher's reading desk but
only a plain table. The students sat on benches of hewn boards
solidly spiked together."70
Students invariably complain of dining-hall food, and the
young men who attended the college were no exception. One
new student was advised by a former one that he would never
survive the meals served at Augustana. (The student lived well
into the twentieth century).7 1 An historian has observed that
"what 'jerky' was to the American frontiersman, bread and mo­lasses
apparently were to the Paxton households, the very staff
and stay of life."72
President Hasselquist's house
The "Muspelhem" dormitory
Our fare was plain. B r e a k f a s t : Bread, butter, molasses,
coffee, water. S u p p e r : Bread, butter, molasses, tea, water.
D i n n e r : Bread, butter, molasses, and some side dishes of
meat, eggs, peas, beans, potatoes, etc., alternating, and water.
We were not to take much of anything.73
Hasselquist investigated such complaints and found that the
students ate better than he had when he was a student i n Swe­den.
He found that the food problems of the school were not so
much a lack of food as lack of variety.7 4 After constant requests
for milk, a cow was purchased. Eggs came from the Swedes
in Andover and the local congregation donated fruit and potatoes.
The student's meager existence was ameliorated by the gen­erosity
of the Swedish community. Members of the congregation
often invited students to their homes for meals. Most students
knew a family where they could have their laundry done. A nd
many did odd jobs to help with their expenses:
1 now taught evening school. . . . I cried auction sales,
sawed and split wood, cared for the college cows, and at the
suggestion of Professor Hasselquist sold Bibles, Bible pic­tures,
etc. . . . During the summer of 1865 I taught parochial
school at Farmersville, nine miles west of Paxton, organized
my first Sunday-school and began preaching. I was paid
$37.00 for my summer's work. Room and board was given
by different families.75
48
Those students who remained at the college over Christmas
were invited into the Hasselquist home on Christmas Eve to en­joy
the traditional Swedish festivities. One student whose birth­day
happened to fall on the same day as Hasselquist's was i n ­vited
annually to celebrate the occasion with "the Doctor."76
The teachers and their families shared the privations of the
students.7 7
Among themselves, the students' poverty was not so notice­able,
but in public life it was another matter. At a church fes­tival
one student took part i n the presentation:
My suit of clothes was very cheap, costing, I think, about
$1.00. I had found a pair of boots that had been thrown
away; but they were not a pair, and one had a large hole on
top. This I covered when standing or sitting, by putting my
other boot over it.
When I got up to do my part I faced a Miss L. L . in the
front seat. She laughed at my rustic appearance. I did not
get stage fright, fortunately, but it cut me to the quick. . . ."7S
In spite of the poverty and the primitive environment of early
Paxton, a devout, positive and religiously dynamic atmosphere
pervaded the college.7 9 One student said that "without being
inspired with that mind it would have been difficult to have felt
at home there. Services and prayer meetings were the im­portant
factors in the school life, and the salvation of the soul was
recognized as the most important concern."8 0 Students were
not allowed to walk holding hands with girls because this was
considered sinful. Some students were so pietistic that they
considered playing i n the school's band, which had been organ­ized
with Hasselquist's help, to be contrary to an upright spirit­ual
life.81
The students gravitated into two basic groups: the older boys
who could preach and grow beards, and the younger ones who
could do neither. The older youths felt a responsibility to bring
up "the boys" properly, and were often severe in their guidance.
But Hasselquist was indulgent toward the younger ones; ". . . the
fear of God does not eliminate joy, and you older friends, en­courage
the young to be happy; if they be permitted to live,
they w i l l have enough of sorrows and worries."82
The students held athletic contests, played ball, and, under the
command of one boy who had been to a military school, prac­ticed
marching and fencing with wooden swords. Some of the
47
The Paxton Swedish band, organized in 1877
students who were not too pietistic played i n the band or sang.
The school had a debating club, and there were frequent in­formal
discussions in Ragnarök, where the questions that arose
during the day were hammered out far into the night.83
However, despite the school's success i n training young men
for the Lutheran ministry, Augustana failed to become a perma­nent
part of the Paxton community. As early as 1865, Hassel­quist
felt that there was no future for the college i n Paxton."*
The next year a movement was underway among leaders of the
synod to move the college, and i n 1869 they made their decision:
In view of the failure of the plan of a large settlement
growing up around Paxton, and along the Illinois Central
Railroad, our school is bereft of the necessary support which
such a large settlement would afford. Besides, it lies alto­gether
too far away from the older settlements upon which
it should serve. The American people in Paxton have also
been unwilling to fulfill their obligations for support of the
institution. The Board, therefore, has come to realize the
absolute impossibility of maintaining any longer the college
in Paxton.8 6
At this time the town of Geneseo, in Henry County, offered
to raise $40,000 to help the college if it would move there. Be­sides
the generous money offer, another advantage of Geneseo
was its location near several older established Swedish com­munities
such as Galesburg, Andover, and Galva. But when
the synod was ready to act on the offer, Geneseo refused to raise
the $40,000 and the town was no longer considered as a site for
the college.8 6 The synod then established these criteria for a new
site: a town must offer $20,000 and a building site, and must be
located in Knox, Henry, Rock Island, Bureau, or Cook County.
But no town offered to meet these demands.67
Finally Reverend H. Reck of the synod's committee to find
a new site came across 18% acres of land for sale on the Missis­sippi
River between Rock Island and Moline.8 8 The city of Rock
Island made no offer of money or of a building site. But the
land was ideally located among the older Swedish communities
of western Illinois, which were necessary for the support of both
the college and the students.89
Rock Island itself had a large population of Swedes and was
located near the crossroads of two major transportation routes.
The Mississippi River which flowed by the town would provide
north-south transportation, and the Rock Island Railroad, which
crossed the Mississippi there, connected the city with both East
and West. These routes would provide the Swedes i n Minne­sota,
Iowa, and Nebraska with easy transportation to the college.00
By March, 1873, enough money had been collected to make
the down payment on the land, and work on the first building
was begun the following year.9 1 The economic depression of
1873 made final acquisition of the land at Rock Island difficult,
and it slowed construction of the campus. But by 1875, the first
building costing $53,000 was completed and the college moved
from Paxton to Rock Island in the fall.9 2 Due to the hard times,
the synod found it difficult to liquidate the property at Paxton,
and it was not until 1908 that the last of it was sold.93
In 1874 the synod asked that all members of its congregations
donate 25 cents per year to the school. Fifteen cents would be
used for student support and 10 cents for professorial salaries.
The synod also asked the congregations to make specific contri­butions
to the building fund. Thus the support of the college
at Rock Island was based upon the congregations of the synod,
and not upon gifts from Sweden, land sales, or donations.94
Although it did not stay more than a dozen years in Paxton,
the time Augustana College spent there was not lost. One form­er
student reflecting on it wrote: "In the history of our institu­tion,
the Paxton period is an idyllic and peaceful time. Of trials
and poverty there were indeed an abundance, but also of con­tentment
and the fear of God. Then were trained the men who
during the past generation were the directing strength of the
synod."9 6
The removal of the Augustana College and Seminary from
Paxton to Rock Island constitutes a watershed between the early
49
erratic development of the Swedish colony and its later history.
Some Swedes followed the college to Rock Island and others
moved west where land was not so expensive or where they
could homestead it free. A l l that is left to remind one that A u ­gustana
College was once located in Paxton is a plaque on the
corner of Park and Summer Streets where the school once stood.
But many Swedes had found a home i n Paxton and remained
there to conserve their gains. And, indeed, their presence is
still visible today, in the names, in the features, and even in the
voices of many Paxton residents.
NOTES
' M . J. Englund, quoted in "The Paxton Period," M y C h u r c h , TV (Rock
Island, 111., 1918), 19. This anonymous article was evidently by the editor,
Ira O. Nothstein.
2 Helge Nelson, T h e S w e d e s and t h e S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s in N o r t h A m e r ­ica,
2 vols., (Lund, Sweden, 1943), I, 81.
"Nels Hokanson, S w e d i s h I m m i g r a n t s i n L i n c o l n ' s T i m e (New York,
1942), p. 18.
'Nelson, S w e d e s and S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s , I, pp. 390-391.
' G . Everett Arden, T h e S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s (Rock Island, 111., I960),
pp. 59-60.
* G. Everett Arden, A u g u s t a n a H e r i t a g e : A H i s t o r y of t h e A u g u s t a n a
L u t h e r a n C h u r c h (Rock Island, 111., 1963), pp. 22, 23, 26.
' Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 66.
* Arden, . A u g u s t a n a H e r i t a g e , p. 36.
' I b i d . , p. 37.
1 0 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 74-75.
"Ibid., pp. 82-87.
11 I b i d . , p. 88.
"Ibid., p. 103.
"Ibid., pp. 104-108.
1 5 O. Fritiof Ander, T. N . H a s s e l q u i s t : T h e C a r e e r and I n f l u e n c e of a
S w e d i s h - A m e r i c a n C l e r g y m a n , J o u r n a l i s t and E d u c a t o r (Rock Island, 111.,
1931), pp. 53-55; M i n n e s a l b u m , S v . E v . L u t h . Församlingen, P a x t o n , I l l i n o i s,
O r d o c h B i l d , 1 8 6 3 - 1 9 0 3 (Paxton, 111., 1903), pp. 6-8, translated from tha
Swedish by Heggie Mcintosh and Evelyn Erickson.
1 8 Ander, Hasselquist, pp. 54-55.
1 7 Paul W. Gates, T h e I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l R a i l r o a d and I t s C o l o n i z a t i o n W o rk
(New York, 1968), p. 206.
18 I b i d . , pp. 206-207; M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 8.
1 9 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 208.
2 0 Ibid., p. 207.
"Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 135-139.
" M i n n e s a l b u m , pp. 8, 10.
Oren B. Taft, "Early History of Paxton, Illinois," in Journal of t h e
I l l i n o i s S t a t e H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , 12 (1919-20), 33.
"Ibid., p. 37.
25 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 2.
2 6 E. A . Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , I l l i n o i s , f r o m I t s E a r l i e s t S e t t l e ­m
e n t t o 1908 (Chicago, 1908), p. 81.
2T M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 7.
28 P a x t o n R e c o r d , July 27, 1865.
50
" I b i d . , April 13, 1876.
3 0 Ford C o u n t y J o u r n a l , April 23, 1874.
31 P a x t o n R e c o r d , April 27, 1877. Lazaroni were homeless beggars in
Naples.
3 2 Ibid., April 12, 1867, April 15, 1875, April 6, 1871.
3 3 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 210; Ander,- H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
3 4 Nelson, S w e d e s and S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s , I, 390-391.
3 5 Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , p. 219.
36 P a x t o n R e c o r d , Feb. 23, 1865.
3 1 Ibid., April 13, 1865, April 17, 1865, June 15, 1865, July 20, 1865, Jan. 27,
1866, Oct. 20, 1866, April 17, 1879.
3 8 Ibid., March 24, 1866, April 17, 1879
3 9 Ibid., August 25, 1866, May 4, 1865.
40 I b i d . , May 11, 1865, April 15, 1880, June 8, 1865, April 12, 1877.
"Ibid., May 4, 1869 and May 5, 1866, July 28, 1866; Ford C o u n t y J o u r n a l,
April 23, 1874; P a x t o n R e c o r d , April 6, 1871, Sep. 15, 1866.
42 P a x t o n R e c o r d , Sep. 15, 1866. Oct. 20, 1866.
4 3 Ibid., April 13, 1876.
44 I b i d . , May 18, 1865.
"Ibid., August 17, 1865.
46 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 21.
4 7 James I. Dowie, P r a i r i e G r a s s D i v i d i n g (Rock Island, 111., 1959), pp.
132-133.
4 8 Ninth and Tenth Census (1870 and 1880) of Ford County, Illinois,
(manuscript on microfilm, Urbana, 111.).
4 9 Dowie, P r a i r i e G r a s s D i v i d i n g , pp. 132-135.
0 0 Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , p. 219.
5 1 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 65.
5 2 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , pp. 209-210.
53 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 10.
6 4 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , pp. 210-211.
6 5 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
6 6 Conrad Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h . A H i s t o r y of
A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e , 1 8 6 0 - 1 9 3 5 (Rock Island, 111., 1969), pp. 22-23, 46.
6 7 Ander, Hasselquist, p. 54.
- " I b i d . , p. 63.
3 9 Bergendoff, Augustana.- A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 30-31.
0 0 Paxton R e c o r d , Feb. 23, 1865.
0 1 Ibid., August 3, 1865.
6 2 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
63 P a x t o n R e c o r d , August 3, 1865, June 6, 1866, July 21, 1866, Oct. 26, 1865;
Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 62-63.
"Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 54-56, 60-63; "The Paxton Period," 26.
6 5 "The Paxton Period," 26, 28.
66 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 22.
6 7 Dr. L. G. Abrahamson, Memoirs (unpublished manuscript, 1939), L u ­theran
School of Theology, Chicago, translated from the Swedish by M. A .
Henrickson, p. 83.
""Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149.
"Abrahamson, Memoirs, pp. 81-82.
7 0 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149.
7 1 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 77.
7 2 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 150.
7 3 "The Paxton Period," 47.
7 4 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 64.
7 0 "The Paxton Period," 38, 40.
7 6 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 105.
7 7 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 150-151.
51
1 8 "The Paxton Period," 38-40.
7 9 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149; Ander, Hasselquist, p. 66.
8 0 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 85.
8 1 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 64-67.
8 Z Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 89.
83 I b i d . , 89, 104; Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 66-67.
8 4 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 212.
85 S y n o d i c a l M i n u t e s , 1869, p. 26, quoted in Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s,
p. 168.
8 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 40-41, 43.
8 7 Ibid., pp. 43-44.
88 C a t a l o g u e of A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e and T h e o l o g i c a l S e m i n a r y , 1 8 7 6 - 1 8 7 7,
p. 14.
8 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 43-44.
8 0 / b i d . , p. 45.
"Ibid., p. 44.
8 2 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 70-71.
9 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , p. 115.
S i l b i d . , p. 46.
9 5 Dr. Andreen quoted in "The Paxton Period," 32.
52

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HOW THE SWEDES CAME TO PAXTON
HUGH E. MCINTOSH
The removal of Augustana College and Theological Seminary
from Chicago to Paxton, Illinois, in 1863 brought about the
formation of a Swedish community in that little prairie town.
In the words of Dr. M . J . Englund, "what Mecca is for the Mo­hammedan
. . . Jerusalem for the Israelite, Paxton was at one
time for the [Swedish] Lutheran immigrant."1 To understand
how Paxton, not even a decade old, attained such a significance,
one must follow the course of events which drew so many Swedes
to the bustling young town on the Illinois prairie.
Swedes settled in many parts of the United States, but the
mainstream of nineteenth-century Swedish immigration flowed
to the Midwest. The land there was inexpensive and fertile,
while the climate and social system were most suitable to the
Swedes.2 Swedish settlements grew up in Minnesota, Wisconsin,
Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, New York, and Kansas.3 In 1850, of
the more than 3,500 Swedes i n the United States, 1,123 were in
Illinois and 753 in New York. Other states had significantly less.
By 1860, the census figures show the swelling Swedish popula­tion
of the Midwest. More than half of the 18,625 Swedes in
the U . S. were then living in Illinois and Minnesota.4
The first Swedish Lutheran minister to immigrate to Illinois
was Lars Paul Esbjörn, who established a congregation at An¬
dover in 1849.5 Esbjörn knew that some Swedes had been lured
away from their Lutheran faith by the Eric-Janssonists at Bishop
H i l l and by Methodist, Baptist and Episcopalian missionaries.6
In others, the liberal spirit which had persuaded them to emigrate
from Sweden also wrought a change in their religious attitudes.7
Esbjörn and other Swedish Lutherans became convinced that
they had to unite with local Lutherans to insure the survival of
their religion.8 Therefore, in 1851 the Swedish Lutheran con­gregations
in northern Illinois joined with the American, German,
and Norwegian Lutheran congregations to form the Northern
Illinois Synod.9 Two years before, the older Illinois Synod had
founded Hillsboro College at Hillsboro in Montgomery County.
The new synod now voted to help support this college as the insti-
35
tution where its ministers would be trained. In 1852 the trustees
of the college decided that Springfield offered a more advan­tageous
location, and the college was moved to that city and re­named
Illinois State University.1 0
In order to better train their ministers, the Scandinavian mem­bers
of the Northern Illinois Synod raised money and estab­lished
a Scandinavian professorship at the university in 1858.
They chose Pastor Esbjörn to be the professor. Esbjörn plunged
into his new duties and was immediately confronted by a large
number of seemingly insuperable obstacles, not the least of
which was the absence of any real Scandinavian community.11
I can do no otherwise [he wrote] than deplore the fact
that no Scandinavian Lutheran congregation is found in
Springfield, which could give the necessary festive and im­pressive
tone to these practical efforts and through mutual
contact between congregation and students support and
develop the true, Christian and Lutheran spirit.12
The obstacles, instead of disappearing, became larger and more
numerous. By 1860 Esbjörn had had enough and resigned his
professorship." In April the Scandinavian members of the
Northern Illinois Synod decided that Esbjörn's resignation was
a symptom of a growing alienation between them and the other
The first Swedish church in Paxton
members of the synod. Therefore, the Scandinavians withdrew
from the synod and, at an organizational meeting later in the
year, established both the Augustana Synod and the Augustana
Seminary.1 4
Pastor Esbjörn, who was appointed professor of theology at
the seminary, began teaching in the fall of 1860. Classes were
held at first in the basement of the Norwegian Lutheran Church
i n Chicago. However, this was only to be a temporary arrange­ment.
The Augustana Synod was interested i n the possibility of
founding a colony in which the seminary could be located, and
agents were sent to Wisconsin, Minnesota, and Iowa to find a
suitable site.1 5 T. N. Hasselquist, pastor of the Swedish L u ­theran
church in Galesburg, was the prime mover behind this
project. When preaching in Galesburg, he had become convinced
of the necessity and practicability of founding a Swedish colony
around a Swedish Lutheran seminary.1 6 While Esbjörn directed
the seminary in Chicago, Hasselquist took over the search for
a colony site.
In 1862 William H. Osborn of the Illinois Central Railroad
Company, having heard that the Scandinavians were searching
for land on which to start a colony, approached Hasselquist and
Pastor Erland Carlsson of Chicago. Osborn suggested that the
synod found its colony and seminary along the route of the r a i l ­road
on land purchased from the company. He proposed that
the synod send a committee to inspect the land at the railroad's
expense. This the synod agreed to, and in May 1862 Hasselquist,
Carlsson and three other committee members toured the I. C.
lands as far south as Jonesboro.17
After its inspection trip, the committee chose three possible
sits: Neoga, Pera and Paxton. Neoga already had a small Swed­ish
colony, but the town was ruled out because it was too far
south of Chicago. Approaches were made to Pera and Paxton,
and the latter was chosen as the site for the colony and seminary
on the basis of a more attractive offer by the townspeople. Wil­liam
H . Pells agreed to donate twenty acres of land for the loca­tion
of the seminary and the Illinois Central gave the following
terms for its land: the seminary would sell 60,000 acres of the
railroad's land for a commission of one dollar per acre on the
first 30,000 acres and fifty cents per acre on the next 30,000
acres; the seminary would buy 1,000 acres of land for six dollars
37
per acre.1 8 This agreement with the I. C. was signed on Febru­ary
12, 1863.19
When the synod met in June, Hasselquist and Carlsson per­suaded
all the leaders except Esbjörn to accept the railroad's
offer.2 0 Opposed to land speculation, feeling his leadership in
the synod slipping, tired and homesick, Esbjörn returned to
Sweden.2 1 Hasselquist immediately moved to Paxton to organize
a congregation and to prepare for the arrival of the seminary
in the fall.22
Just nine years before Augustana Seminary arrived i n Paxton,
the only sign of white men there was a muddy wagon road con­necting
Ottawa and Danville. Several miles west of this place,
where the trail passed through a stand of trees known as Ten
Mile Grove, was a small post office. There were a few farmers in
the outlying area and some settlers lived along the road. During
the summer of 1854 the railroad—courier of American civiliza­tion—
snaked its way south from Chicago, crossed the Ottawa
Trail, and continued on to Urbana. Not long after, William Good­rich,
his wife and three sons built a home where the railroad
crossed the wagon road, and the seed of a new town was
planted.2 3
In 1855 two land speculators, Leander Britt and Ransom K.
Murdock, set out to build a city at the junction in the hope
that it would become the seat of a new county. They bought
240 acres, laid out a town, and christened it Prairie City. In
1857 the railroad office opened and Prairie City became a boom
town.2 4 To show in name, as well as i n fact, that the country
junction was fast becoming a metropolis, the town fathers re­named
it Prospect City.25
Two years later, in 1859, Prospect City became the seat of
newly organized Ford County, and again it was deemed neces­sary
to change the name of the town.2 0 Sir Richard Paxton, a
wealthy Englishman, was planning at this time to establish a
colony in Illinois, and i n a vain attempt to attract S i r Richard to
Prospect City, the town was renamed Paxton.27
By 1863, Paxton was undergoing rapid expansion, and was
attempting to develop a civilization commensurate with that of
the older settlements and towns of the East. The P a x t o n R e c o r d ,
which began publishing in 1865, tells of Paxton's preoccupation
with business, building, and becoming a city. Each week's paper
38
carried accounts of new buildings being put up, additions being
made to older ones, the volume of trade shipped by rail, new
businesses openings, agricultural forecasts, and suggestions for
further improvements. Frequently the paper would print an up­date
of the town's growth:
PROGRESS OF PAXTON—Since the commencement of
the publication of the R e c o r d we have endeavored to keep
our readers posted from week to week as to the material
growth and prosperity of Paxton, yet, when we review it,
we can scarcely realize the extent of the improvement nor
the real progress we have made. . . . Nor has the growth
of the village been alone remarkable. The country has been
filling up with industrious and wealthy farmers who are
busy improving the lands. . . .2S
Disease occasionally rampaged through the town, and there
were accidental shootings and freak accidents. Tramps were a
nuisance and numerous reports of burglars, horse thieves, and
other criminals appeared in the papers; the P a x t o n R e c o r d ad­vised
citizens to "watch for the rascals and shoot them on sight."29
Cultural activities and entertainments were fostered as i n ­tegral
parts of city life. There were singing, dancing, and literary
clubs, as well as a band. Out-of-town lecturers were often i n ­vited
to speak and on one occasion a debate on the Scriptures
and reason was held.3 0 Other amusements were picnics i n the
summer, hunting in the fall, sleigh-riding i n the winter, and
dances and parties all through the year. Occasionally a troupe
of entertainers or a circus would come to town and once a couple
of "Italian Lazaroni" with two performing bears visited Paxton.3 1
In addition to the Swedish Lutheran Church, there were Metho­dist
and Congregational churches; revivals, camp meetings and
prayer meetings were a recurring part of religious life.
Nearly as regular as church services were temperance activi­ties:
lectures, conventions, and a military organization known as
the Hosts of Temperance. It was noted in one paper that i n only
eight months out of the previous five years had there been any
liquor licenses issued, and in another issue the editor reported
that the Riley Saloon had burned to the ground while smiling
onlookers made no attempt to save it.32
The years 1863 and 1864 saw the arrival in Paxton of many
Swedes from other settlements in America. Perhaps two hun-
39
dred immigrants came the first year. During the next two years,
despite the close of the Civil War, immigration to Paxton fell
off. The years 1867 and 1868 were the best for immigration to
Paxton; it is estimated that 500 Swedish families then settled in
the area. After 1866 most of the Swedes arriving in Paxton came
directly from Sweden.3 3 The census of 1870 indicates that the
flow of Swedish immigration was moving north and west from
Chicago, away from Paxton.3 4 Significant numbers of Swedes
continued to flow into Paxton until 1870. Thereafter, as many
moved away from Paxton as arrived there from Sweden.35
Swedes who had settled in Paxton before 1863 had been so few
in number that they had apparently blended into the community
without much notice. The first reference to a colony of Swedes
appears in the March 23, 1865, number of the P a x t o n R e c o r d:
A colony of Swedes now comprises a large and prosperous
portion of our population, and we learn that many more
are coming. . . . Our citizens have learned to extend the
most cordial welcome to this class of immigrants as they
are almost without exception, intelligent, honest and i n ­dustrious.
3 6
The phrase, "Our citizens have learned to extend the most
cordial welcome . . .," implies that when the Swedes first came
to Paxton, they underwent a probationary period. A reading of
contemporary Paxton newspapers reveals the criteria by which
the Swedes were judged: the ability to prosper, high character,
usefulness to Paxton, ability to speak English, willingness to
adopt the "American" way of life. In a community where strong
emphasis was placed on material growth, the prosperity of the
Swedish element was certainly welcomed. The R e c o r d continues:
They are employed i n every department of industry and
science; among them are found some of the best mechanics
in the country. Many of them have lived in the United
' States for years, and possess good English educations. . . .
They are not clannish as some colonies are held to be; but
act independently, each man solely for himself.
The Swedish mechanics undoubtedly helped fill a crying need
in the growing community, and the willingness of the Swedes
to speak English and to blend into the Paxton community helped
earn them a lasting place in the town.
40
The Swedes participated in nearly all aspects of Paxton life.
They owned or were involved in a variety of businesses: a lum­ber
yard, a dry goods store, a plow manufactory, a meat market,
a grocery store, a boot and shoe store, and a furniture store.37
One was an artist and the Swedes had their own band.3 8 The
Swedish Lutheran minister preached on occasion to the Con¬
gregationalists, and he was involved with the Soldiers' A i d So­ciety.
3 9 There were Swedes i n court cases, on the relief roles,
and in shooting accidents.4 0 They were also involved in politics:
Swedes ran for, and occasionally won, the offices of town trustee,
constable, alderman, township supervisor, and county judge.41
They served as grand jurors, petit jurors, and delegates to po­litical
conventions, and they participated in both the Republican
and Democratic Parties.42
The transition from Swedish immigrant to American citizen
was not an immediate nor necessarily an easy process. Although
some Swedes knew or learned English, the language barrier
presented problems for both Swede and American:
Last week a bad case came up for hearing. . . . The fel­low
could neither speak nor understand a word of English
and the court was equally unlettered i n Swede. . . . There
sat the court with two hundred and twenty-five pounds of
steam, as indicated by the gauge, and no opportunity to let
it off. . . . After a futile-attempt at relief, the court swooned
and was on the retired list the balance of the week.48
In another article, the story is recounted in which a Swede,
subpoenaed only as a witness and thinking he was to be ar­rested,
led the authorities on a wild goose chase for some time
before he was hauled into court where he gave his testimony
and was fined for "resisting arrest."4 4 To overcome the language
barrier, one enterprising merchant hired a Swedish clerk and
advertised the fact i n Swedish.45
Other sources add more light to our knowledge of life as it
was for the Swedes in Paxton. In recalling this period, the an­niversary
album of the Lutheran church has this to say: "The
congregation was at that time in poor financial straits. Their
expenses according to the size of the congregation were small,
and yet, the income was not enough. Much must be written
about poverty and money shortage during the time of new build­ing.
. . ."46
41
A critical view of Paxton is given by S. M . H i l l , who, like
hundreds of other Swedes, first lived with a relative who had
preceded him and become established in America. Hill came
to Paxton in 1868 and eventually got a job in a harness shop
that paid $28 per month and board.4 7 There were large numbers
of Swedish laborers and domestics in Paxton then,4 8 and i n his
later years H i l l warned his countrymen against becoming slaves
in their new homeland. Hill felt that education was the only
way for the Swedish immigrant to become something more
than a low-class laborer for the American elite, and he believed
that a working knowledge of English was the first step.49
Coming directly from Sweden, H i l l may have been overly sen­sitive
and too quick to draw class lines. But there were surely
reasons for his observations. Newspapers already mentioned i n ­dicate
that the Americans found the Swedes who were not fluent
in English to be amusing and something less than social equals.
Yet, it is undeniable that in time the Swedish community pros­pered.
In 1908, historian E. A . Gardner observed of Paxton that
" i n no place, with the exception of New Boston, can be found
as many business men in proportion to the population, and no­where
do Swedes do a better business than here. It is natural
that they would not succeed as well, did not the Americans sup­port
them as well as their Swedish patrons."50
Pastor Hasselquist hoped the sale of the synod's land and the
commissions from the I. C. land would provide adequate financial
support for the college. (The seminary had been renamed Au¬
gustana College and Theological Seminary in 1862) .5 1 To that
end the college secured a land agent, P. L . Hawkinsson, who
began to solicit Swedish immigrants to buy land and settle around
Paxton. Pamphlets sent to Sweden depicted all the advantages
a Swedish settler would have in Paxton: instruction by L u ­theran
pastors in Swedish and in English, rich farm lands which
produced high yields of wheat and corn, cheap lumber, a healthy
climate, and the benefits of buying land from and shipping pro­duce
with the I. C.5 2 As a result of the efforts by Hasselquist
through H e m l a n d e t (the Swedish-American newspaper of which
he was editor), Erland Carlsson in Chicago, and Hawkinsson as
land agent, Swedish settlers began to appear, including 83 mem­bers
of Hasselquist's former congregation in Galesburg.63
However, land agents employed directly by the railroad and
42
local speculators sold their own land to many of the Swedish
immigrants. Also, in 1866 the I. C. lowered the price of its land
to $2 an acre, thereby undercutting land sales efforts made by
Augustana. From 1863 to 1868 the school earned only $14,000
selling land for the railroad, and stopped the practice after that
year. But it did continue to make some money from the sale
of its own land until 1875.55
Another major source of support for the college was a gift
of over $10,000 from Sweden. Rev. O. C. T. Andrén collected
the money for the college on a trip there i n 1862.56 The school
also eventually received $750 that had been collected for the
Scandinavian professorship at Illinois State University before
the Scandinavians split from the Northern Illinois Synod.67
Most of the students at Augustana were poor. The Swedes
i n the Paxton congregation as well as those i n other congrega­tions
of the synod occasionally helped the students with gifts
of money and produce.5 8 By 1867 over half the students re­ceived
free room and board while only six paid $2.50 a week.
In 1865 a tuition fee of $10 was charged, but only to those stu­dents
who could pay it. Students who were members of a con­gregation
in the synod were only charged half price and those
who were studying for the ministry were charged nothing.59
The non-Swedish citizens of Paxton and the students of Au¬
gustana College were effectively separated by geography, goals,
and the Swedish community, which acted as a buffer between
them. The college was located on the northwestern edge of the
city, and scholastic demands left little time for idling about the
town. Most of the townspeople knew little about life at the col­lege,
and what they did know they learned from newspaper ar­ticles
such as these:
. . . the citizens of Paxton donated liberally to this i n ­stitution
. . . [it] will not be exclusively Swedish, on the
contrary we learn that it w i l l be conducted according to the
system which has obtained in all our first class American
Colleges. It w i l l undoubtedly rank with the best institutions
i n the country.60
In years to come it will prove one of the greatest attrac­tions
to the most desirable class of people seeking new homes,
and a powerful agent in Americanizing the foreign element
of our population."6 1
That "the citizens of Paxton donated liberally" to the college
43
is doubtful. Hasselquist reported that the Paxtonites failed to
give the support they had promised.6 2 The college was judged
by essentially the same criteria as the Swedish community: the
ability to prosper, high character, usefulness to Paxton, ability
to speak English, willingness to adopt American ways. Augustana
failed on three of these counts. The failure to prosper material­ly
is evidenced by frequent calls for patronage and support in
the Record, as well as by the financial problems reported by Has­selquist.
6 3 That the college did not greatly benefit Paxton is wit­nessed
in the R e c o r d by the constant use of the future tense in
reference to the school's success. The simple fact that Augus­tana
remained physically and spiritually on the edge of the com­munity,
training its students for service outside Paxton, while
its citizens (including those of Swedish origin) pursued material
progress, shows the college's failure to become an integral part
of Paxton.
Although they failed to become a part of the larger local com­munity,
the students at Augustana were very much at home
within the smaller environment of the college. A study of life
at Augustana during the Paxton period must begin with T. N.
Hasselquist, president of the college and pastor of the Swedish
Lutheran congregation. At Paxton, Hasselquist hoped to found
a Swedish colony that would support an American-type college
and a Lutheran seminary, and would attract Swedes away from
the cities, which he considered evil. From the beginning, he
was plagued with numerous problems: the C i v i l War threatened
to ruin plans for the colony; a rumor was spread that the
land around Paxton was not fertile; the college was ignored by
the non-Swedish population in Paxton and by the pastors of the
Augustana Synod; people suspected that Hasselquist's only con­cern
was making money; and he was ridiculed for "trying to
make hired men into ministers."6 4 Despite these hardships and
handicaps, Hasselquist succeeded i n creating a college environ­ment
in which young men could be trained for the Luther­an
ministry.6 5 He was loved and honored by his congrega­tion,
6 6 and among the students he inspired both respect and
awe:
Hasselquist was president in name as well as in deed. We
all looked up to him, and his ability to win both the love
and respect of the students was based on eminent talents.67
44
O, what a conception I had of "the Doctor!" I approached
his house the first time with emotions akin to a man con­demned
to the whipping post."68
The school complex consisted of a small cluster of frame
houses. The students gave names to several of them: Hassel¬
quist's house was called "Asagård," the residence of Odin, the
chief god of Norse mythology; "Valhalla," Odin's banquet hall,
was the building where the students ate; another was called
"Ragnarök," the smoke house—whether because of the smoking
chimney or because some students smoked there on the sly is
not known; and the building where the ministerial candidates
were given their final exams was known as "Purgatory."6 " In­side
the buildings conditions were Spartan: "class rooms were
small and cramped; there was no teacher's reading desk but
only a plain table. The students sat on benches of hewn boards
solidly spiked together."70
Students invariably complain of dining-hall food, and the
young men who attended the college were no exception. One
new student was advised by a former one that he would never
survive the meals served at Augustana. (The student lived well
into the twentieth century).7 1 An historian has observed that
"what 'jerky' was to the American frontiersman, bread and mo­lasses
apparently were to the Paxton households, the very staff
and stay of life."72
President Hasselquist's house
The "Muspelhem" dormitory
Our fare was plain. B r e a k f a s t : Bread, butter, molasses,
coffee, water. S u p p e r : Bread, butter, molasses, tea, water.
D i n n e r : Bread, butter, molasses, and some side dishes of
meat, eggs, peas, beans, potatoes, etc., alternating, and water.
We were not to take much of anything.73
Hasselquist investigated such complaints and found that the
students ate better than he had when he was a student i n Swe­den.
He found that the food problems of the school were not so
much a lack of food as lack of variety.7 4 After constant requests
for milk, a cow was purchased. Eggs came from the Swedes
in Andover and the local congregation donated fruit and potatoes.
The student's meager existence was ameliorated by the gen­erosity
of the Swedish community. Members of the congregation
often invited students to their homes for meals. Most students
knew a family where they could have their laundry done. A nd
many did odd jobs to help with their expenses:
1 now taught evening school. . . . I cried auction sales,
sawed and split wood, cared for the college cows, and at the
suggestion of Professor Hasselquist sold Bibles, Bible pic­tures,
etc. . . . During the summer of 1865 I taught parochial
school at Farmersville, nine miles west of Paxton, organized
my first Sunday-school and began preaching. I was paid
$37.00 for my summer's work. Room and board was given
by different families.75
48
Those students who remained at the college over Christmas
were invited into the Hasselquist home on Christmas Eve to en­joy
the traditional Swedish festivities. One student whose birth­day
happened to fall on the same day as Hasselquist's was i n ­vited
annually to celebrate the occasion with "the Doctor."76
The teachers and their families shared the privations of the
students.7 7
Among themselves, the students' poverty was not so notice­able,
but in public life it was another matter. At a church fes­tival
one student took part i n the presentation:
My suit of clothes was very cheap, costing, I think, about
$1.00. I had found a pair of boots that had been thrown
away; but they were not a pair, and one had a large hole on
top. This I covered when standing or sitting, by putting my
other boot over it.
When I got up to do my part I faced a Miss L. L . in the
front seat. She laughed at my rustic appearance. I did not
get stage fright, fortunately, but it cut me to the quick. . . ."7S
In spite of the poverty and the primitive environment of early
Paxton, a devout, positive and religiously dynamic atmosphere
pervaded the college.7 9 One student said that "without being
inspired with that mind it would have been difficult to have felt
at home there. Services and prayer meetings were the im­portant
factors in the school life, and the salvation of the soul was
recognized as the most important concern."8 0 Students were
not allowed to walk holding hands with girls because this was
considered sinful. Some students were so pietistic that they
considered playing i n the school's band, which had been organ­ized
with Hasselquist's help, to be contrary to an upright spirit­ual
life.81
The students gravitated into two basic groups: the older boys
who could preach and grow beards, and the younger ones who
could do neither. The older youths felt a responsibility to bring
up "the boys" properly, and were often severe in their guidance.
But Hasselquist was indulgent toward the younger ones; ". . . the
fear of God does not eliminate joy, and you older friends, en­courage
the young to be happy; if they be permitted to live,
they w i l l have enough of sorrows and worries."82
The students held athletic contests, played ball, and, under the
command of one boy who had been to a military school, prac­ticed
marching and fencing with wooden swords. Some of the
47
The Paxton Swedish band, organized in 1877
students who were not too pietistic played i n the band or sang.
The school had a debating club, and there were frequent in­formal
discussions in Ragnarök, where the questions that arose
during the day were hammered out far into the night.83
However, despite the school's success i n training young men
for the Lutheran ministry, Augustana failed to become a perma­nent
part of the Paxton community. As early as 1865, Hassel­quist
felt that there was no future for the college i n Paxton."*
The next year a movement was underway among leaders of the
synod to move the college, and i n 1869 they made their decision:
In view of the failure of the plan of a large settlement
growing up around Paxton, and along the Illinois Central
Railroad, our school is bereft of the necessary support which
such a large settlement would afford. Besides, it lies alto­gether
too far away from the older settlements upon which
it should serve. The American people in Paxton have also
been unwilling to fulfill their obligations for support of the
institution. The Board, therefore, has come to realize the
absolute impossibility of maintaining any longer the college
in Paxton.8 6
At this time the town of Geneseo, in Henry County, offered
to raise $40,000 to help the college if it would move there. Be­sides
the generous money offer, another advantage of Geneseo
was its location near several older established Swedish com­munities
such as Galesburg, Andover, and Galva. But when
the synod was ready to act on the offer, Geneseo refused to raise
the $40,000 and the town was no longer considered as a site for
the college.8 6 The synod then established these criteria for a new
site: a town must offer $20,000 and a building site, and must be
located in Knox, Henry, Rock Island, Bureau, or Cook County.
But no town offered to meet these demands.67
Finally Reverend H. Reck of the synod's committee to find
a new site came across 18% acres of land for sale on the Missis­sippi
River between Rock Island and Moline.8 8 The city of Rock
Island made no offer of money or of a building site. But the
land was ideally located among the older Swedish communities
of western Illinois, which were necessary for the support of both
the college and the students.89
Rock Island itself had a large population of Swedes and was
located near the crossroads of two major transportation routes.
The Mississippi River which flowed by the town would provide
north-south transportation, and the Rock Island Railroad, which
crossed the Mississippi there, connected the city with both East
and West. These routes would provide the Swedes i n Minne­sota,
Iowa, and Nebraska with easy transportation to the college.00
By March, 1873, enough money had been collected to make
the down payment on the land, and work on the first building
was begun the following year.9 1 The economic depression of
1873 made final acquisition of the land at Rock Island difficult,
and it slowed construction of the campus. But by 1875, the first
building costing $53,000 was completed and the college moved
from Paxton to Rock Island in the fall.9 2 Due to the hard times,
the synod found it difficult to liquidate the property at Paxton,
and it was not until 1908 that the last of it was sold.93
In 1874 the synod asked that all members of its congregations
donate 25 cents per year to the school. Fifteen cents would be
used for student support and 10 cents for professorial salaries.
The synod also asked the congregations to make specific contri­butions
to the building fund. Thus the support of the college
at Rock Island was based upon the congregations of the synod,
and not upon gifts from Sweden, land sales, or donations.94
Although it did not stay more than a dozen years in Paxton,
the time Augustana College spent there was not lost. One form­er
student reflecting on it wrote: "In the history of our institu­tion,
the Paxton period is an idyllic and peaceful time. Of trials
and poverty there were indeed an abundance, but also of con­tentment
and the fear of God. Then were trained the men who
during the past generation were the directing strength of the
synod."9 6
The removal of the Augustana College and Seminary from
Paxton to Rock Island constitutes a watershed between the early
49
erratic development of the Swedish colony and its later history.
Some Swedes followed the college to Rock Island and others
moved west where land was not so expensive or where they
could homestead it free. A l l that is left to remind one that A u ­gustana
College was once located in Paxton is a plaque on the
corner of Park and Summer Streets where the school once stood.
But many Swedes had found a home i n Paxton and remained
there to conserve their gains. And, indeed, their presence is
still visible today, in the names, in the features, and even in the
voices of many Paxton residents.
NOTES
' M . J. Englund, quoted in "The Paxton Period," M y C h u r c h , TV (Rock
Island, 111., 1918), 19. This anonymous article was evidently by the editor,
Ira O. Nothstein.
2 Helge Nelson, T h e S w e d e s and t h e S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s in N o r t h A m e r ­ica,
2 vols., (Lund, Sweden, 1943), I, 81.
"Nels Hokanson, S w e d i s h I m m i g r a n t s i n L i n c o l n ' s T i m e (New York,
1942), p. 18.
'Nelson, S w e d e s and S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s , I, pp. 390-391.
' G . Everett Arden, T h e S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s (Rock Island, 111., I960),
pp. 59-60.
* G. Everett Arden, A u g u s t a n a H e r i t a g e : A H i s t o r y of t h e A u g u s t a n a
L u t h e r a n C h u r c h (Rock Island, 111., 1963), pp. 22, 23, 26.
' Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 66.
* Arden, . A u g u s t a n a H e r i t a g e , p. 36.
' I b i d . , p. 37.
1 0 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 74-75.
"Ibid., pp. 82-87.
11 I b i d . , p. 88.
"Ibid., p. 103.
"Ibid., pp. 104-108.
1 5 O. Fritiof Ander, T. N . H a s s e l q u i s t : T h e C a r e e r and I n f l u e n c e of a
S w e d i s h - A m e r i c a n C l e r g y m a n , J o u r n a l i s t and E d u c a t o r (Rock Island, 111.,
1931), pp. 53-55; M i n n e s a l b u m , S v . E v . L u t h . Församlingen, P a x t o n , I l l i n o i s,
O r d o c h B i l d , 1 8 6 3 - 1 9 0 3 (Paxton, 111., 1903), pp. 6-8, translated from tha
Swedish by Heggie Mcintosh and Evelyn Erickson.
1 8 Ander, Hasselquist, pp. 54-55.
1 7 Paul W. Gates, T h e I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l R a i l r o a d and I t s C o l o n i z a t i o n W o rk
(New York, 1968), p. 206.
18 I b i d . , pp. 206-207; M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 8.
1 9 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 208.
2 0 Ibid., p. 207.
"Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 135-139.
" M i n n e s a l b u m , pp. 8, 10.
Oren B. Taft, "Early History of Paxton, Illinois," in Journal of t h e
I l l i n o i s S t a t e H i s t o r i c a l S o c i e t y , 12 (1919-20), 33.
"Ibid., p. 37.
25 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 2.
2 6 E. A . Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , I l l i n o i s , f r o m I t s E a r l i e s t S e t t l e ­m
e n t t o 1908 (Chicago, 1908), p. 81.
2T M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 7.
28 P a x t o n R e c o r d , July 27, 1865.
50
" I b i d . , April 13, 1876.
3 0 Ford C o u n t y J o u r n a l , April 23, 1874.
31 P a x t o n R e c o r d , April 27, 1877. Lazaroni were homeless beggars in
Naples.
3 2 Ibid., April 12, 1867, April 15, 1875, April 6, 1871.
3 3 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 210; Ander,- H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
3 4 Nelson, S w e d e s and S w e d i s h S e t t l e m e n t s , I, 390-391.
3 5 Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , p. 219.
36 P a x t o n R e c o r d , Feb. 23, 1865.
3 1 Ibid., April 13, 1865, April 17, 1865, June 15, 1865, July 20, 1865, Jan. 27,
1866, Oct. 20, 1866, April 17, 1879.
3 8 Ibid., March 24, 1866, April 17, 1879
3 9 Ibid., August 25, 1866, May 4, 1865.
40 I b i d . , May 11, 1865, April 15, 1880, June 8, 1865, April 12, 1877.
"Ibid., May 4, 1869 and May 5, 1866, July 28, 1866; Ford C o u n t y J o u r n a l,
April 23, 1874; P a x t o n R e c o r d , April 6, 1871, Sep. 15, 1866.
42 P a x t o n R e c o r d , Sep. 15, 1866. Oct. 20, 1866.
4 3 Ibid., April 13, 1876.
44 I b i d . , May 18, 1865.
"Ibid., August 17, 1865.
46 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 21.
4 7 James I. Dowie, P r a i r i e G r a s s D i v i d i n g (Rock Island, 111., 1959), pp.
132-133.
4 8 Ninth and Tenth Census (1870 and 1880) of Ford County, Illinois,
(manuscript on microfilm, Urbana, 111.).
4 9 Dowie, P r a i r i e G r a s s D i v i d i n g , pp. 132-135.
0 0 Gardner, H i s t o r y of F o r d C o u n t y , p. 219.
5 1 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 65.
5 2 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , pp. 209-210.
53 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 10.
6 4 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , pp. 210-211.
6 5 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
6 6 Conrad Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h . A H i s t o r y of
A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e , 1 8 6 0 - 1 9 3 5 (Rock Island, 111., 1969), pp. 22-23, 46.
6 7 Ander, Hasselquist, p. 54.
- " I b i d . , p. 63.
3 9 Bergendoff, Augustana.- A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 30-31.
0 0 Paxton R e c o r d , Feb. 23, 1865.
0 1 Ibid., August 3, 1865.
6 2 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 62.
63 P a x t o n R e c o r d , August 3, 1865, June 6, 1866, July 21, 1866, Oct. 26, 1865;
Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 62-63.
"Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 54-56, 60-63; "The Paxton Period," 26.
6 5 "The Paxton Period," 26, 28.
66 M i n n e s a l b u m , p. 22.
6 7 Dr. L. G. Abrahamson, Memoirs (unpublished manuscript, 1939), L u ­theran
School of Theology, Chicago, translated from the Swedish by M. A .
Henrickson, p. 83.
""Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149.
"Abrahamson, Memoirs, pp. 81-82.
7 0 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149.
7 1 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 77.
7 2 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 150.
7 3 "The Paxton Period," 47.
7 4 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , p. 64.
7 0 "The Paxton Period," 38, 40.
7 6 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 105.
7 7 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , pp. 150-151.
51
1 8 "The Paxton Period," 38-40.
7 9 Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s , p. 149; Ander, Hasselquist, p. 66.
8 0 Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 85.
8 1 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 64-67.
8 Z Abrahamson, Memoirs, p. 89.
83 I b i d . , 89, 104; Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 66-67.
8 4 Gates, I l l i n o i s C e n t r a l , p. 212.
85 S y n o d i c a l M i n u t e s , 1869, p. 26, quoted in Arden, S c h o o l of t h e P r o p h e t s,
p. 168.
8 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 40-41, 43.
8 7 Ibid., pp. 43-44.
88 C a t a l o g u e of A u g u s t a n a C o l l e g e and T h e o l o g i c a l S e m i n a r y , 1 8 7 6 - 1 8 7 7,
p. 14.
8 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , pp. 43-44.
8 0 / b i d . , p. 45.
"Ibid., p. 44.
8 2 Ander, H a s s e l q u i s t , pp. 70-71.
9 8 Bergendoff, A u g u s t a n a : A P r o f e s s i o n of F a i t h , p. 115.
S i l b i d . , p. 46.
9 5 Dr. Andreen quoted in "The Paxton Period," 32.
52